Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Ironman

Councilwoman Kathy Dunbabin once again raised questions about the 26-year-old Fourth of July Ironman chugalug, in which about 150 people run on the beach, paddle in the ocean and return to a private front yard to down a six-pack of beer and try, with little success, not to vomit. "I think the Ironman needs to stop," Dunbabin said. "The police department has to put a lot of people there, and the department is held hostage until about 2 p.m. If they didn’t have to be there they could be down on the Strand shutting things down and keeping things together."

If you are bored with the typical bbq and fireworks on the 4th, hop on down to Hermosa Beach and participate. All you need is a surfboard and a six pack.

As you can see, an Ironman legend, Roaddog will wait until the end when all the beer and sweat and puke is on the ground and do a full on slide thru it all. Only in Hermosa. And then, usually, Pennywise plays and rips up the drunken pit that forms.

This is our former mayor, Ralph Burgie, that makes sure it happens every year. He is the mayor that fought for the beach to be topless-legal, always fought for the bars and drinking on the beach. Very smart guy, who as you can imagine, all of Hermosa's council hated.

And, finally, a nice letter to the paper from a local man:

Dear Easy Reader,It was with pleasure that I picked up the copy of the new Easy Reader on my doorsteps.I am not thankful for the photo on page 12 of the Ironman contestant vomiting on the back of a fellow contestant.As a 14-year resident of Hermosa Beach I was well aware of this requirement in the Ironman contest. But I didn't really have the desire or need to see this photo in your normally fine publication.Best wishes to the Easy Reader for a great year and I hope better judgement is used for next year's Baywatch 2000 coverage. Thank you.Michael RigdonHermosa Beach